Dog Days of August...

It has been one HOT SUMMER!!  We have had rain almost daily and would wish the rain would move to areas that need it.  We have 18 large bales of hay delivered for the cows, but it has been to wet to put it in the barn.  Has to dry out enough to move some of it inside or at least tarp it.

We had our first C-Section in 8 years of raising Nigerian Dwarf Goats.  Brush Creek Olive, one of the last of the Brush Creek line kidded without difficulty last fall.  This year a large buck kid was presenting side ways and I could not move him back to bring forward.  I could feel the back bone and ribs.  Took her to a local Vet who could not reposition him either.  Fortunately the Vet was a young, new Vet to the area and he was a large animal and goat Vet.  Olive lucked out that day.

Olive has recovered completely and we have dried her off to rebreed this fall for 2013 kids.  We also have Olive's mother Brush Creek Charlies Angel who is 10 years old.  We have a daughter from Angel sired by *B Lost Valley PS Superb *S.  We have one other Brush Creek doe.  Her name is Brush Creek Liz.  Liz has just finished earning her milking stars and has one ADGA leg towards her championship.  She is 8 years old and LAed 85.  Not to bad for the old gal. 

Brush Creek Liz pictured to the left.


We are milking along and are working on our 2013 Breeding Scheule.  We will be freshening a bunch of first fresheners, so it will be a chance to get kids from outstanding milking lines at reasonable prices.  We still need to clip and photograph our young bucks and post them on line.  To much to do and so little time.

We have just purchased our first French Black Copper Marans chickens and are enjoying the wonderfully rich dark chocolate eggs they are producing.  One of my Black Cochin Bantam hens, broody as ever, is setting on 6 Marans eggs.  She is soooo happy!  Those little hens are amazing and the best moms too!

Put together a Hen Condo to get the chickens off my goat hay.  They love to roost on the hay, which becomes their poo place.  These coups always look larger then they actually are.  This will accomidate probably 6 chickens as long as they are let out daily to graze.  Three large chickens in the pen area including the Rooster they look cramped.  The nest box has two nests, that is nice and the pan comes out to clean the house.

Our lovely UDiamond, Diamond for short has earned her Superior Genetic's award.  Her full name with titles is SGCH Rosasharn GX UDiamond *3M, 4*D,+DAR.  She earned her Grand Champion title in March of this year and earned her milking stars last fall.  The Superior Genetics is a combination of LA scores and milk production.  The doe must rank in the top 85% of the breed listing in order to earn this award.  Diamond's daughters Oldesouth Black Diamond and Oldesouth Diva Diamond will be freshening next spring.  Diamond's son *B Oldesouth Cognac Diamond *S, *DS will be one of the bucks we will use this fall for next spring's kids. Her 2012 son *B Oldesouth ZV Marque *S will be covering a few does as well.

This fall SGCH NC Promisedland Rain-Beau (photo below) will be kidding to CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku *S.  Oldesouth Blue Amber 2*M, 2*D, 2+DAR (pending) will be kidding as well to Sudoku.  We are excited about these breedings, will be some fantastic kids with MILK and CONFORMATION!

Rain-Beau is one of the most beautiful does I have seen in the Nigerian Breed.  She has a perfect udder, teat placement and she can milk!  She is a sweet heart and super easy to milk.  We milked her from May until a week ago.  It took us some time to dry her off.  She is due to kid the end of September first week in October.  We have measured her when the DHIR supervisor came to do our Verification test.  She is within standard and we are considering showing her as a Champion Challenge this fall.

Below is Rain-Beau from the rear with a lovely high udder.  Rain-Beau's kids are spoken for for 2012, a buck and a doe will be retained. 

Summer in Alabama

Summer in Sweet Home Alabama always comes with the bloom of Crepe Myrtles, my favorite summer flush of color.  Pinks, reds, purples, whites and shades in between.

It has been sooo HOT, 105 degrees, humidity off the charts.  Wow the weather has been rough here and over a lot of the USA.

The photo to the right is the enclosing of the west side of the barn.  This will protect our hay, which another 450 bales are to arrive next month and 18 large round bales for the cows, Joe and the sheep.

Left is the West side of the barn enclosed.  Just in time for the heat wave.

 Love my Crepe Myrtles...

 Our pasture is very lush this year.

 A close up of our beautiful Alabama grass.  This is Bahia Grass.

 I had sold my one Nubian Ariel and really missed her in the spring.  She would feed all the bottle babies and I could sell my Nigerian Milk at a premium price.  With her gone, I feed the premium milk to my bottle babies.  So, had to get a couple more to fill her shoes.  Welcome Honey and Roxanne.  These two lovely Nubian does are from Sand Rock Acres.  The Nigerian in the back ground, wanting to be involved is Oldesouth Diva Diamond, a UDiamond daughter.

 Little Roxanne is going to the show ring.  She is sired by CH Southern-Leisure Benedict, her dam is SGCH Sand Rock Acres Fannie Dae 10*M.  Should be some milk in this little angel... 

 Had to include a photo of best buddies, Oldesouth Marques Diamond and Gypsey Moon Hemingway.  Two young bucklings growing out and hoping mom gives them some sugar.

The two girls, Baby Back and Pork Chop are growing like crazy on the goat milk and yum yums mom brings them.  They are being free ranged in the pecan orchard and are so happy, clean and are having the best time ever.  They are grazing in this photo.  The good times will be over we think the end of August, depending if they reach about 200 pounds.

 Thought everyone might enjoy seeing my heifers.  This is one of my favorites, Molly.  She is beautiful and hopefully bred to the Angus Bull we had.  She is half Beef Master and very sweet.

 Guess who this is?  Yes, it is Molly as a baby calf.

 This heifer to the right is Cinnamon, another half Beef Master heifer I raised.

 This is Pepper to the right.

This is Pepper and Cinnamon as calves.

I do enjoy the cow girls...

Summer is close...

Summer is closing in, the temperatures have been HOT and HUMID.  Nothing new in the south.  Today it is raining, which we need and the grass will spring up like crazy.  Sold a couple of calves, one was out of Christi and she had horns.  Christi is heterozygous for horns and this is the one who got the horned gene.  He other two daughters are polled.  I hate horns and she had to go.  Even if we dehorned her, she would pass on the gene.  Her mother is an ugly cow who produces beautiful calves, so she stays for now...

Goats are doing well, the bucks are always in rut.  Got a lot of positive response with this photo below of the boys on face book.  One of the guys I went to high school with made the comment that these three looked like himself and his buddies in college...  He is a hoot...!

The trio of guy Bucks is from left to right, +*B Rosasharn MR General B +*D, +DAR, his son Oldesouth Shell Foop and the handsome CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku *S.  They have their tongues hanging out being nasty bucks.  Does are on the other side of the fence.

The boys are discussing a doe in not a gentlemanly manner I am sure.. (right)










Yes the boys are characters to say the least.  This time of the year does are bred for fall kidding.  The Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats breed all year around.  Many of the large breeds are seasonal and come into heat for fall to kid in the spring.  I have a few kidding in the fall, but plan to take a break and kid mostly in the spring so we can have the winter to rest.

Milk testing is going well and Brush Creek Liz is close to drying up.  She has made her stars on butter fat, not sure if she will make it on milk.  She is eight now and do not expect the world from a doe who like myself is past their prime.  As a brood doe she is PREMIUM though and hope she will have does next year for me.  Her son Lex is looking great, moon spots and all.

Scandal is still milking strong, since last September.  She will more then likely hit the 1000 pound mark and get her AR (advanced registry).  I have dried off several of my regular milkers due to time and not having enough of it.  If the does have earned their stars, lets focus on the ones who have yet to reach that status.  So do not dismay if you see one of my does with less milk this year then last.  She may have been dried off to make room for a daughter or others who have not earned their stars.  Email me if you have questions and are interested in reserving a kid.

Oldesouth Blue Amber is still milking strong and hope to take her to her AR as well.  Amber bred herself to CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku *S, because she broke out and honey mooned with him.  She fell in love with him, seeing him one time and smelling him on the ride back to Alabama.  I found her in his pen one morning when he was in isolation.  She stayed there until his blood work came back clean.  My experience has been they start drying off on their own a couple of months into the pregnancy.  Will see how far we can take her before she drys herself off.  She is pictured to the right winning a large 2 to 3 year old doe in milk class at Clemson, SC in May.






BEFORE GOATS, I did have a non goat life and my son was growing up.  Bicycling kept him clean and focused on positive pursuits in life....

I am not sure how many of you know my son Tim Babb.  He cycled for years as a Junior and was the Alabama Champion for two years.  Tim also competed in the Canadian Jr race which is a JR Tour of France.  I think it was the Tour de l'Abitibi in western Quebec, but will verify that with Tim.  The first time he competed he was one of the last, but finished the 950 mile plus race over 8 days.  The second time he competed he was in the top 50, which was great.  Had he started sooner, perhaps his JR cycling would have made the top 10.  Tim left cycling to go into the Air Force and has just recently gone back to cycling.

I am happy for him, but now he can buy his own equipment and pay his own way, which was not cheap by the way...  He did get some sponsors as a JR, maybe he will get more now...





Tim Babb on his bike May 2012.

May has jetted by...

We have been preparing for a load of hay to be delivered.  It came Memorial day when most of the guys were off for the holiday.  We were able to get it unloaded today.  It was HOT!!!  Usually the heat does not arrive until June.  But that mild winter we had is giving us a hot hot year.

 James is a young man who helps at the farm with the milking and taking care of livestock.  Great Help!

Philip stacking hay on top.

Great helpers and brothers, Philip and Evan.

This is Luke who has come to help hay for a few hours.

This is Levi and he has come to help unload as well.

 It was great to see it all unloaded and stacked so neatly.

The sheep were close by, checking out the excitement and seeing what was going on.  They are all happy and cool now that they have been shorn.  We did that a couple of weeks ago and finished the last 4 a couple of days ago.

Buck profile:

Photos to the left are The General and his son Foop.  Foop is white.  The buck pasture is a great place for the boys to mess around and do guy things...

 The three man guys are CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku, Oldesouth Shell Foop, and +*B Rosasharn MR General B +*S,+DAR

 Oldesouth Shell Foop is a General Son.

Three man guys...

The General, +*B Rosasharn MR General B +*S, +DAR.










That is enough for now folks.  Hope you enjoyed the photos.

May is here and we are moving along...

Everyone, it has been one fast month so far.  Went to the Clemson, SC shows, had a blast.  Won a large class of 2 to 3 year old milkers, some 2 and 3rds with Diamond's kids in juniors, but nothing to break the door down.  Competition the best in the nation, so be happy not to come up the rear...  Ha Ha.  Had a great time visiting with folks I had not seen in a year and my friend Patsy Demo came along to give everyone a good time with her humor.

Teena Bagwell of Gypsey Moon Nigerians in South Carolina finally let me take her buck CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku *S home.  I was thrilled beyond belief and she had him all clipped up like a movie star, WOW, he took my breath away...

He is sired by Rosasharn SS Sequoia +B,*S and his dam is Rosasharn SS Unique *4D AR.  Unfortunately Unique lost half her udder to mastitisis and was not shown.  I have seen her in person and she has a topline to die for, a beautiful doe with an unfortunate loss.  She has compensated and easily able to raise triplets on her half udder.  This doe is the brood doe everyone hopes for.  Her daughters and sons have excelled across the board.  His father Sequoia passed away at the age of 10 and this young buck has filled the gap for sure.  Best disposition in the world, easy to deal with and a handsome hunk.  His daughter Airianna was Reserve Champion Jr Doe at the ADGA nationals last year.  Several of his daughters have earned thier Grand Champion legs as juniors.

Another doe brought home with a slight side drive of 7 hours was the spectacular SGCH NC Promisedland Rain-Beau 2*M.  She is in milk and giving a half gallon a day, freshening last fall.  This doe is sweet as sugar and can hand milk her or machine, she is cool.  A dream goat and so thankful the Harrells let me bring her home.

We plan to milk her to her AGS stars when she freshens again.  She could make it this lactation, but I want to see what the BMW girl can really do from freshening on.

Check out our 2013 breeding schedule for does going to be bred to CH Sudoku*S so far and we are taking deposits.  We will be using Diamond's son Cognac and Marquie, The General and Sudoku mostly for our fall and spring 2013 breedings.

Get it Done...

We have been busy as ever, showing, milking and appraisals this weekend.  Yes, we are having a Special Session to get this done.  My does all freshened in Jan and feb and by Sept of this year, would not appraise worth a hoot.  The lovely doe to the left is LTE Pervskia.  Took her almost a year to get pregnant and finally kid to The General, but worth the wait.  Look how lovely she is!

The photo to the right is Perovskia udder from the side and oh yes, she is on DHIR.  Probably not a world record holder for milk, but doing well for a seven year old doe.

This is Perovskia's udder from the rear, not to bad for a middle aged goat!  I clipped her up to see what she looked like and was going to take her to Florida, but tatoos faded and did not have time to retatoo.  Beautiful doe and beautiful kids.  We have decided to retain them for now and see how they grow out.

 This young doe is Alexa's daughter sired by Superb.  She is a lovely young lady and will clip her up and see what she looks like shortly.

 This doe is Blue's last daughter, Oldesouth Blue Ice.  She is striking with the black coat and blue eyes.  She is sired by *B Oldesouth Black Panther *S, bred back to Mr General.  She should be bagging up pretty soon.  A lovely doe.

Faith is pictured to the right, Sugar Moon Faith.  Nice topline and growing into her body, which is a mile long.  She is a mix of Cou Clair and Tog coloring, which is interesting.  She comes from Vermont from SGCH all around. She will be shown this year and bred this fall to a Diamond son.

This pixie faced little gal is out of LTE Silene 1*M, *D, *DAR E90, sired by Oldesouth Shell Foop, a General son.  She is very pregnant, bred back to the General.  We hope to show her as a first freshener or a yearling, depending on when she kids.

Enough for now, need to go milk the girls...